Chicago officials have found a way to tax the cloud.

Digital media companies and Chicagoans will now be slapped with a 9 percent cloud tax on streaming services, including popular entertainment outlets such as Netflix, through which city officials aim to generate $12 million. Collections will begin Sept. 1.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the city sees part of its cloud tax as an extension of its longstanding amusement tax a kind of levy that many cities and other taxing jurisdictions collect. Amusement taxes typically target theater or concert tickets and live sporting events, but Chicago apparently would be among the first cities and certainly the biggest to rule that digital entertainment enjoyed in the home is covered.

In an environment in which technologies and emerging industries evolve quickly, the city periodically issues rulings that clarify the application of existing laws to these technologies and industries, mayoral spokeswoman Elizabeth Langsdorf said in a statement.

Companies are already working to shift costs imposed by the cloud tax onto consumers. The entertainment website The Verge reported Wednesday that Netflix has already begun making arrangements to add the tax to the cost charged to its Chicago customers.

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